Thanks Jenn,
I'll get to work and let you know how it turns out. I have until November to work on this. I have a dear friend that keeps her ipod loaded and up-to-date. I am going to put her to work too. Isn't that what friends are for?.........

Again, thank you for taking the time to share your ideas.
Merrie

Merrie,
I'm guessing we are all in the same boat - a different generation from our kids. Music is crazy these days, isn't it?

Anyway...to answer your question...we went with stuff that's played on Radio Disney. Lyrics can be bad in so many songs and we definitely have to be careful in what we "provide" for the kids to sing for sure.

I included songs from Brittany Spears (not my favorite artist at all - but some of her songs were okay), Aaron Carter, Back Street Boys, Baha Men (Who let the dogs out?), Christina Aguilar, Smashmouth (All Star and I'm a Believer) and some of the oldies like YMCA and Johnny Cash. Some kids are familiar with these songs as well.

Now, I would add songs from Raven, High School Musical (their movie dvd comes with a karaoke cd) and Green Day (again watch this one - several songs have bad words - but there are still plenty to choose from that the kids know). These weren't popular back when we did the karaoke booth (or I didn't have them at the time).

And then lastly, ask your kids what their favorite songs are. Find out if they are appropriate and then see if there are disks out there. Check with your music teacher too...they might have some backtrack tapes to borrow as well.

I'm at work now, so I don't have the exact list in front of me...but if I left off an artist or two, I'll repost.

Good luck everyone.

Jenn R., when you have the time, would you email me your list of the popular songs the kids like these days. I am a graduate of the 70's and my taste and the children's taste probably aren't the same. (I still love hearing----Sister Sledges..."We Are FAMILY" and the Commadores..."She's A Brick House" ha! ha! )
Or, if you could just tell me the name of some of the popular songs that seemed to be favorites for your booth that would be great too! I am not a fuddy duddy, I am just not too hip on today's Rap Music. Furthermore, FYI we are a Christian school so I need to probably be careful when it comes to some of the lyrics.

I thought about sending out a questionaire to find out the students' interest in certain songs and certain artists. Did you do anything like that?

Great Idea!!!! I will have to use this one and pass it along!!

Cindy

This sounds wonderful. Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. I will cetainly share your idea with others. Again, thank you so much- Merrie

Couple ways to organize (we did this at our carnival too one year - the music teachers did this and kept the proceeds).

We set ours up in the cafeteria where the food was being served - that way it doubled as "entertainment" for those sitting and eating.

I personally have over 400 karaoke songs and have them in a cd album with a separate song list sorted by song and by artist. We used my karaoke cds for this booth (and my machine). Most of the songs, however, elementary kids have never heard of...so what I did was make a list of the "popular songs and artists" and had that on a separate sheet. The whole list was available too, but the separate "kid friendly" list made it easier to decide what to sing.

We charged $1 per person per song at the karaoke booth. Most kids don't want to sing alone - so if a group of say 5 kids say a song together - you would get $5. It takes about 3 minutes to sing a song, so $5 for 3 minutes isn't too shabby. But...there are others who want to solo - so you make less money that way.

We also recorded the songs for an additional fee. I found blank audio tapes on ebay (huge lot for super cheap!) We put a blank label on each one and for $5, the child could get a recording of their song. We wrote the song and the "artist" on the label. It's obviously not professional, but the kids don't really care. And $5 is a LOT less to get yourself singing a song than at Six Flags (they charge $15). This will take extra equipment and someone who is capable of managing it - but it's a fun booth and the kids love it.

A few items to consider - If a lot of kids want to sing, there will be a long line of kids waiting around to sing. This could cause frustration. You could do a sign up sheet for time slots - kids could come back at their alotted time - if kids show up promptly, you'll stay on schedule. If not too many kids want to sing - then you have a booth that is not well attended and will not make much money.

Getting the sound system and the karaoke machine and songs together takes some time. It can't be thrown together at the last minute. If you're going to charge kids to sing, the microphones need to be good quality so everyone is happy.

Karaoke is a lot of fun! Having this at a carnival or as a separate Family Fun Night - is really a great idea!